Gravity
by shereeof93
Summary: Post Breaking Dawn. Renesmee is having a hard time dealing with her love for Jacob. She wants to believe it's real but she's afraid that it's just the magic of imprinting. What happens when she decides to try and love someone else?
1. Obligation

1. Obligation

Jacob's POV

I was sitting downstairs in the living room watching football with Emmett when Renesmee came down the stairs. Each time I looked at her, I marveled at her stunning beauty. It seems like just hours ago, when she was just a tiny baby and she always wanted me to hold her. So innocent and so sweet, but as I looked at Renesmee now, it was clear she was obviously no longer a child. She was seven today, but her body and maturity was that of an 18 year old girl. I swept my eyes casually from her head to her feet, I couldn't help it. She was so beautiful. She seemed to notice my casual examination though and she looked down at the ground, embarrassed. I stood up from my chair and went to her side at the bottom of the stairs.

"Happy Birthday." I said pulling her into a hug.

"Thanks." She said a little shyly.

I felt her stiffen and I automatically released her. I looked at her face, to see if I had done something wrong, but she wasn't looking at me. She was looking towards the doorway at Edward and Bella.

Bella was at her side in a flash pulling her into a hug. "Happy birthday, baby! I can't believe you're all grown up already."

"Thanks mom." Nessie sounded slightly embarrassed from all the attention.

After Bella let go of her Edward pulled her in for a hug. "Happy birthday. My little girl is all grown up." His voice was off a little, like if he could cry, he would be right now.

Nessie didn't say anything; she just put her hand against his cheek. "Always." Was all she whispered as she pulled her hand back. He smiled softly at her and put his arm around Bella.

"So you wanna go do something? We could go to the river or something." I asked her casually.

Again she put her hand on my arm instead of speaking. The image I saw in her head was when she was a little girl, taking a ride on my back like a horse. It was a request. I laughed out loud and I heard Edward chuckle beside me. I grabbed her hand and we ran out the back door. She stopped by the edge of the woods to let me go and phase. We were out of Edward's range though and I almost thought about pulling her in the woods with me, but then I was immediately ashamed. _She just reached maturity! _I told myself over and over again.

I came out of the forest as a wolf, and her beautiful deep brown eyes lit up. I was about to lay down so she could get on easier, but she gracefully hopped right into place on my back. I took off almost as fast as I could and I heard her sweet laughter. It was just giggles at first but as I sped up so did her laughing. I took sharp turns to bounce her around a little and her girly screams intensified with her undying laughter. I felt her pull back on my hair after a while and I came to a quick stop. A little too quick though, her body went forward and she had her arms wrapped around my nose to keep herself on. She pushed herself back up into a sitting position than hopped off my back.

She had a huge grin on her face as she looked into my wolf eyes. "Thanks Jake. That was really fun!"

I really felt an urge to talk to her, to hold her and tell her how much she meant to me. Without thinking I phased quickly and after it was already too late I heard her gasp. She turned around with inhuman speed and covered her eyes.

"Oh crap, sorry Nessie. It's just natural, I don't even think about it. Sorry." I said pulling on my shorts.

"It's fine." But her voice was a little extra shaky.

I reached out and gently spun her back around to face me. My emotions were overwhelming me and I couldn't help but reach out and touch her cheek. "I've been waiting a long time for this."

"For what?" She said a little cautiously.

"To finally be able to tell you everything about how I'm really starting to feel about you."

Her gentle features became an expression of confusion. "Jake, I already knew how you felt." She pushed her hand against mine, which was still on her cheek. The vision of us talking about a year ago popped into my mind. It was when I had told her she was my imprint.

"I know, but the feelings then were purely to keep you safe and ultimately for your happiness. Now, it's more Nessie. I loved you, but now I really feel like I'm _in_ love with you."

She looked me in the eyes without speaking long enough to make me nervous. When she noticed my obvious discomfort she looked down and started to speak slowly. "Jake, you know that I love you too, but what if it's just because of this imprinting thing? How do we know we're really in love at all?"

I dropped my hand from her face like she burned me. I imprinted on her. Aren't imprints supposed to feel the same way? What was wrong? I thought we were supposed to be soul mates. She should want to be with me the same way I wanted to be with her. Why was she fighting it? Surely she had to be fighting her feelings. It must have been obvious on my face that I was hurt and confused because tears filled her pleading eyes.

"Please Jake. I'm not trying to hurt you. I just…"

"What?" My throat was thick and the words came out a little harsher than I intended.

She took a deep breath and then went on, "I just don't want it to feel like we _have _to like each other just because you imprinted on me. The only reason you were around me at first is because of the physical pain and the feeling that I belonged to you, or you belonged to me or whatever. We never got a chance to fall in love, it was just you loved me and everyone expects me to love you back. I don't think that's fair to me. Do you see what I'm trying to say?"

I felt like I had died. No worse, it felt like I had been cut off from my life supply of oxygen. I couldn't breathe without Renesmee and here she was telling me she didn't think imprinting was fair? "No, I don't understand."

I didn't really realize I was crying until Nessie threw her arms around me. "Jake, please don't cry! Let's just keep it the same way between since when we were younger. Before…the…uh…hormones kicked in! I just want to feel like I have a choice to fall in love with you. Not an obligation."

"Nessie, I…I need a little time to think about what you've told me. Can you find your way back to the house?"

She touched my cheek with just her fingertips and showed me that her speech was not intended to hurt me and cause me suffering. I smiled softly at her before turning around and started running, phasing in mid lunge.

**Author's Note:**

**Hi! So this is my first fanfiction! **

**I'm not sure if I should continue this story or not, so any reviews would be greatly appreciated! **

**Let me know what you think of the story! Please Review!**


	2. Pain

2. Pain

Renesmee's POV

I took my time walking back toward the house. Each step was like someone stabbing me. Step, step, step. Pain, pain, pain. It hurt me, to hurt Jacob like that. Of course I felt the need for Jacob. That part of me never seemed to be fully satisfied unless he was with me. But what if that was just imprinting. Just a trick. I didn't want magic. I wanted love. I wanted to be able to look at him and know that Iloved him because I wanted to, not because I had to. The only way I could think of doing that is dating someone else. Seeing what it felt like to really fall in love, and then compare that love to what Jacob and I shared.

But, thinking about loving someone other than Jacob physically hurt just to think about. It was like my air ways were closing, and my lungs were shutting down. I started sobbing. Uncontrollable sobs that start low in your stomach and rip all the way up your body and leave you weak and broken. I couldn't even walk anymore. Gravity seemed to be pressing down on me and I fell to my knees on the forest floor and cried.

_Imprinting_. I hated it. I didn't understand it. It confused me. I didn't want it to have a claim over me. To control who I loved. It shouldn't have that kind of power. I wouldn't let it have that kind of power. I, Renesmee Carlisle Cullen would make my own choices.

As soon as I had made these declarations, I heard someone approaching me. Their footsteps were light and quick, barely making a sound. I looked up to see my father looking at me with concerned eyes. "Renesmee?"

I stood up weakly. "I'll be fine."

He knew I didn't believe the words and neither did he. I went through the conversation again in my head and the memory of Jacob's face caused the tears to start flowing swiftly again. My dad pulled me into a tight hug and I buried my head against his shoulder.

"I hurt him so bad." I moaned into his shoulder.

"It's alright. He surely will understand what you mean." He said in a soothing voice.

"You didn't see his face. He'll never forgive me."

"Ness I know it hurts now but you have to deal with your emotions later. Your family is all back at the house waiting for you to surprise you."

"Some surprise." I muttered.

He laughed and then grabbed my face between his hands. "We all love you, Renesmee. We'll all support you in whatever decision you make. Even Jacob will. If he knows you're happy, then he would learn to live with your decisions. He just ultimately wants what is best for you."

I nodded my head fiercely and tried to shake all the emotions running through my confused head. "Let's go." I said wiping the tears from my eyes.


	3. Floating

Jacob's POV

I ran at a blinding speed through the forest. I didn't really know where I was going, I was just running. I was trying to outrun the pain that was soon to catch up with me. From what I understood, Renesmee didn't want to be my imprint. It was something I couldn't understand. She was what held me to the ground. She was my gravity. Renesmee was the only thing that anchored me to this world. Without her, I was floating, no purpose, no goals, nothing.

Aloneness crept through my body. It was like a cold whisper of wind trailing up towards my heart. I ran faster trying to keep it away and push it out. It wouldn't be chased out however, and soon it wrapped its cold fingers around my heart. I started running slower and slower; it was getting hard to breathe. I came to a complete stop and phased back to my human form. I collapsed against the cool forest floor feeling nothing, just that horrible floating feeling.

I tried to get a grip on my emotions. It wasn't working. I tried to tell myself that she wasn't trying to hurt me and she still wanted to be friends but that didn't bring me too much comfort. My body, soul, and mind longed for her company. I wanted to get up off the floor and run to her, gather her petite body up into my arms and tell her we could always be together, but then the realization struck me that that wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want me to tell her how much I loved her.

What was left on this Earth to hold me here?

**Authors Note:**

**Hello! I just want to say thank you to my reviewers! I really appreciate everything! **

**I kinda had fun writing this chapter. Weirdly enough writing about pain was fun. Heh. Sorry, I know it's really short. I just thought it was important to let the readers know Jacob's feelings. **

**Please review!!**


	4. Surprise

4. Surprise

Renesmee POV

Dad took my hand and we ran back towards the house. The wind whipping my face felt good against my tear streaked cheeks. When we were about a foot from the house I pulled my dad to a stop. "Do I look like I've been crying?"

"No. You look beautiful."

We walked through the front door and I felt my mouth drop.

"Surprise!" Everyone shouted.

But it wasn't the 'everyone' I was expecting. Along with my family, Nahuel and his aunt were there, the three Amazon vampires were there, and Tanya's family from up north. I giggled in surprise and nearly jumped into Zafrina's arms.

"Hello Nessie." She said in her wonderfully weird accent.

"Zafrina! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Well, it's only been 8 months but looking at you it looks like a couple of years."

We released each other and I went to say hello to the rest of my guests. I hugged Tanya and Kate, who had brought Garret. They were basically a couple now. Garret had even given up his old ways of hunting for a more vegetarian style. Nahuel and his aunt were the last foreign guests I got to. It was nice knowing that I wasn't just one of a kind. That there was someone like me out there who understood what it was like to be a freak of the freak world.

"Hey Nahuel."

"Hey Renesmee. It's been a long time." He said. He kissed my cheek and pulled me into a tight hug.

I was sort of surprised by his friendliness but Nahuel was a very friendly person so I didn't take it personally. They came down about once every two years just to check in. Nahuel liked talking to my mom a lot and we were friends. He was really nice and we were about the only two people that we could each relate too.

"Happy birthday. Doesn't it feel weird that this is your body for the rest of eternity?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it. It's weird to think that we're not going to be doing anymore measurements or anything."

"It takes some getting used to."

"I'm sure it does."

"So where's Jacob? He's usually always around."

"Oh, I um…I'm sure he'll drop by later." I said guiltily. Emmett saved the day though and picked me up into a huge bear hug.

"Um, Emmett? Unlike you I need oxygen." Plus I couldn't move an inch.

He set me down laughing. "The little baby of the family is all grown up now." He said in a baby voice.

I just stuck my tongue out at him.

"Very mature." He said sarcastically.

"Happy birthday, Renesmee." Esme pulled me into one of her soft embraces. She always called me by my full name; I don't think I've ever heard her call me Nessie. I think she liked to hear her name in mine.

"Thanks, Esme. And thanks for the party. It's lovely."

"Well I'm just happy you liked it." She smiled sweetly at me. Esme was like my grandma in so many ways.

Carlisle came up beside her and also wished me a happy 7th birthday. It was weird to think that I was only seven years old. Alice, my favorite aunt, pulled me into a hug from behind. "You're so much better about parties then Bella was."

"Well thanks Alice."

She laughed her little tinkling laugh and Jasper smiled at me.

Rosalie was the last one of my family that I talked to. I always had a feeling that I was very important to Rosalie. I had the feeling that she really wanted a daughter of her own and I was the closest thing she would get.

"Happy birthday."

"Thanks Rose." I pulled her into a hug and she didn't let go for a while, but I didn't try to rush her.

Everyone had moved to the living room and was catching up with each other. I sat on the floor in front of my mom who was sitting on the couch, just listening to everyone talk. They talked for a long time, and after a while, I started to get really tired. I leaned my head back against the couch and closed my eyes. Today had been a very long day.

I sort of remembered being carried upstairs. The set of arms I was in were warm and comfortable. I learned my head towards their chest ready to breathe in a scent full of Jacob. But when I breathed in, a strange scent filled my nostrils. I opened my eyes warily to see Nahuel's face smiling down at me.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He apologized as he set me down on the bed.

Disappointment flooded through me. Nahuel wasn't the person I was expecting to see. "Oh that's okay. I needed to get ready for bed anyways."

He just kind of stood there awkwardly at the foot of my bed. "Did you want to sit down?" I asked cautiously. Something on his face told me he wasn't quite ready to leave.

"Sure. We didn't really get a chance to talk earlier." It sounded like he was just getting started by the looks of it.

"Did you have something specific you wanted to say?" I asked a little cautiously.

"Well, not really. I just really missed you. I just wanted to catch up I guess."

"Oh."

Awkward pause.

"So, how are things back home?" I asked trying to start a conversation.

"They're pretty good. My sisters have been traveling around with us more now. You know, since the Volturi went and dealt with my father. They're starting to see themselves as people instead of gods though, which is good."

"Yeah. Not too much has happened around here." I said lamely.

"Really? Something tells me that something happened between you and Jacob."

The pain from earlier today hit me like a brick wall. The familiar gravity crushing feeling was coming back and I started breathing in little pants. "Yeah, kinda." I said a little breathless.

"Whoa, Nessie. Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Hey don't cry." He scooted up beside me and put his arm around my shoulders pulling me in.

I let my head fall against his chest. It was comforting, just having someone to sit there while I cried. We sat like that for a long time. Nahuel didn't say anything, he just let me cry. It wasn't loud sobs or anything at least; it was just silent tears spilling out of my eyes and over my cheeks. It was like a relentless little stream, quiet but unstoppable. I started to get really tired again, and my heavy eyelids drooped.

Nahuel seemed to get tired too and I felt his body relaxing more and more. I drifted off to sleep with my last conscious thought being Jacob's pained face in the woods.

"Renesmee!" Someone whispered harshly in my ear and shook my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Nahuel's body underneath mine. We had fallen asleep, and this probably didn't look to good.

I looked up to see my mother's enraged face looking down at me. Uh-oh.

"What do you think you're _doing_?" My mom's whispers were absolutely furious.

"I-uh-I…"

Nahuel started to move and we both froze.

"Jeez Nessie you're going to wake Nahuel!"

Me? I had barely said a word. She was definitely mad at me. "Mom nothing happened. We were just sitting here talking and we fell asleep."

"On top of each other?!" Her shrill voice raised a few octaves and I was sure the rest of the house could hear it. My cheeks flamed with embarrassment.

"Could we talk about this later? Everyone will hear." I whispered harshly.

My mom just turned around furiously, not even looking at me. When she got to the doorway she turned around and said, "How could you do this to Jacob? Your father and I are going home. Get up out of bed and come downstairs immediately." And then she walked out.

She didn't even know how much that hurt. Before I could dwell on the pain, Nahuel rolled over and opened his eyes. He rubbed the sleep out of them and then he seemed to realize where he was. "Oh, did we fall asleep?"

"Yeah." I said. It came out really sluggishly, so he probably just thought I was really tired and not in severe pain.

"What time is it?"

I glanced over my shoulder at the clock. "It's only 5 in the morning. Um…my mom just left the room. I have to go back home." I started to stand up but Nahuel didn't move much.

"Uh, if you don't care I'm just going to go back to sleep." From the sound of it he was already half way asleep.

"Okay. I'll see you later today."

I got up off the bed taking my time. I was afraid to wake Nahuel, and I really didn't feel like being in too much of a hurry to see my parents at home. My dad would understand though, and he would take my side. Jacob still wasn't his favorite person in the world. Plus it helps that he could read my mind and see that nothing happened between Nahuel and me.

I came down the stairs to see that everyone was still sitting in the living room chatting. Emmett looked up at me and smirked, so I figured they all heard what my mom said to me. I took a shy step in the room and looked at the floor. "Thanks for coming to my party to say happy birthday. I have to go home for a while but I'm sure I'll see you later today."

Some people replied with 'your welcomes' and 'see you later' but I didn't even look up. As soon as I was out the front door I started running. I wasn't running my hardest; I was just at a leisurely jog. I made it to the river when I started getting an eerie feeling. I looked up to see a pair of big brown eyes staring at me. My heart picked up in double time and I stopped dead in my tracks.

Jacob looked at me, questioning me with his eyes whether or not to come forward. I smiled slightly in encouragement and he walked up to me. I barely came past his shoulder and his huge brown eyes seemed to pierce right through me and straight to my soul. I reached forward and gently rubbed his nose. His eyes closed and there was a deep moan in his throat that was almost like a purring noise. I dropped my hand from his face and turned around, trying to signal that I wanted him to phase back.

I felt him stand up behind me. His chest was nearly pressed on my back. I slowly turned around and looked cautiously up into his eyes.

"I know you don't want to be my imprint." He started softly.

"Jacob I--"

He pressed his huge finger up to my lips to silence me. Just that small physical contact made my breath catch in my throat and goose bumps rise on my arms.

"But I did imprint on you. I wish I could have some control over it, because I know that's what would make you happy. I just came here to tell you that I can be whatever you want me to be. I know you don't want to get involved romantically and if all you want is a friend, I can be there for you. I don't want to force my love on you."

My throat was so thick I wasn't sure I could speak. I cleared my throat and began, "Jake. You'll always be special to me. And it's not that I don't want to be your imprint, it's just that I don't want you to feel like it's your duty to love me. And, I love you too Jacob. I'm sure you know that I do. But is that just because of imprinting?" My voice broke on the last word and the tears started spilling out over my cheeks.

He grabbed my face fiercely between his hands. "Nessie, why can't you just trust your feelings? Don't you feel that connection between us? It's meant to be there."

"It's there because of imprinting!" I nearly screamed it in his face. I didn't mean to really, my voice was just so thick that it was about the only way I could get any words to come out.

Realization crept slowly across his face. Jacob finally understood what I had been trying to tell him yesterday in the woods. He slowly pulled his hands away from my face. "I know how I feel about you Nessie. Until you know what your feelings are, I'll be here for you as a friend." As he said this, his face had somehow hardened. It was like he had put on a mask to hide the pain. He was trying to make me happy. Jacob was trying to understand, and to give me what I wanted.

I started crying even harder and my knees felt like they were going to give out. I wobbled slightly and Jacob wrapped his arm around my waist and I threw my head into his chest. He pulled me in tight trying to comfort me.

"Nessie, why are you crying?"

"I-I d-don't kn-now." I said between sobs.

"Tell me." He whispered to the top of my head.

"I'm hurting you. I know I am. And that hurts me too, Jacob." I pressed my hands up to my face trying to get the ridiculous tears to at least subside so I could walk the rest of the way home.

"Don't worry about me. All I want is for you to be happy."

Why did he have to be so freaking nice to me? I held my breath to try and stop the sobs from escaping until Jacob shook my shoulders.

"What are you doing?" He said. He sounded more like a parent then, and that helped me to feel a little bit better. Maybe we could pull off this friend thing.

"I was holding my breath. It makes you stop crying faster."

"That's ridiculous."

"No it's not." I insisted. "See, the sobs are gone."

"That's just because we're teasing each other."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yes huh."

"Fine." I mumbled in defeat.

Neither of us moved for a while. I just laid my head against him, completely warm and content. It seemed like maybe we could get through this. Maybe we could really just stay friends until I knew exactly what I wanted. I felt him sigh and it pulled me from my thoughts.

"I should probably get home. My parents are waiting for me."

"What did you do?"

"What makes you think I'm in trouble?" Jeez, he knew me really good.

"Nessie, your face is like a book."

"I guess I get that from my mom." I mumbled.

He laughed and waited for me to tell him why I was in trouble. I wasn't sure I could tell him though, so I just pressed my hand up to his face. I was good at telling a lie visually. I showed him that Nahuel had carried me up to bed after I fell asleep and then I showed him that Nahuel had asked to bunk with me. Then I showed my mom walking in on us and her assumptions. I left out the part where I was balling on Nahuel about Jacob and what my mom had said. I pulled my hand back and looked up to his face. The same mask was there, so I figured that he was a tiny bit jealous. Which, of course, did not make me feel a tiny bit pleased or anything.

"Well. That was interesting. I'm surprised Bella got so mad."

"Yeah I was too."

He definitely knew I was leaving something out.

"Why are you still standing here? You better get your grounded butt home." He smirked at me and released me from his arms. Even though my skin was just as hot as his, I felt cold when he let go. I looked longingly at his arms and then turned my head toward my house.

"I'm not going to get in trouble. My dad can dig around in my head and see that nothing happened."

"Oh." He sounded a little surprised. It was obvious that I was telling the truth.

"See you later Jake."

"Bye Nessie."

I hopped over the river and headed home, my heart much lighter than it had been about 20 minutes ago.

**A/N:** Yeah, this is kind of a long chapter. Sorry if it hurt your eyes. I had a certain request to make longer chapters. Not saying any names. *Cough* mynameismaxx *Cough* *Cough*

Here's a fun fact! She writes really good stories. Peep em.

Oh, and please **please** review!!


	5. The Talk

5. The Talk

Jacob's POV

I watched Renesmee hop back over the river. She was so graceful, the way her body moved in perfect synchronization was unbelievable. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. I knew where they were going and it would only cause me more pain to think of her that way.

I thought back to the pain I felt in the forest and shuddered. That was the worse pain I had ever felt. It was one hundred thousand times worse than losing Bella. I always knew I could survive losing her, but without Renesmee I had known that I would die.

I almost don't remember getting myself off the floor and phasing back to wolf form. It was like I was in third person, watching myself do it and feeling sorry for that poor wolf boy. It had been easier to deal with the pain that way. When I made it to the edge of my backyard, I had phased back walking up to my front door but not really seeing where I was going.

Quil and Embry were sitting on the couch when I had opened the door. When they saw me they jumped up to comfort me, worry plain on their faces. I couldn't even tell them I was okay. I had opened my mouth to tell them to just leave me alone, but I ended up balling. Sobs erupted from my mouth and the tears flowed freely. I felt like something had been physically ripped out of my soul. I had fallen to my knees with my arms wrapped around me, trying to stop. I had felt weak crying like that in front of my friends. But they understood, because they had both felt the power of imprinting. They had put their arms under mine and sat me down on the couch. I probably cried for about two hours before the sobs finally subsided and I could actually speak.

"_Sorry guys I don't really know what that was." I said lamely._

"_Dude, we'll never tell." Quil raised his right hand as he said this._

_I heard Embry smack him and I actually smiled. A little. "Jacob don't listen to him. We totally understand bro." _

"_No you really don't. You have your imprint tell you they don't want to be with you and then you can say you know how I feel." I was a little harsh, my emotions were still way out of control. _

_That shut them up though and for a while, we all just sat there, gathering out thoughts. "Look man, you can't just not see her." _

"_If that's what she wants I'm going to do it." I stated plainly. I wouldn't upset her._

"_Dude, are you sure you didn't take it the wrong way? Maybe that's not even what she meant." Thank you Dr. Embry._

"_I'm sure."_

"_I think you should go talk to her." Quil said quietly._

"_She doesn't want me to."_

"_Did she say she never wanted to talk to you again?" Embry asked._

"_Well…no…"_

"_Seriously Jake go talk to her." Quil grabbed my shoulder as he said this._

After I went through the conversation in my head, I was glad that they had finally convinced me to go talk to her. It turned out to have worked for the better. I was starting to understand what Renesmee was trying to tell me. This didn't mean I believed her of course, but at least I knew what she was trying to tell me. I walked back to the woods, thinking how I was going to make this up to Embry and Quil.

**A/N**: I decided to give you another short chapter so I could give your eyes a break.

Please review!

And a cyberhug to all my reviewers…you guys are the reason I'm still working on this story!


	6. Wants

6. Wants

Renesmee's POV

I walked cautiously up to my front door, pausing at the entrance. I took a deep breath before I reached for the handle and cautiously opened the door. Mom and dad were sitting in the love seat beside the fireplace and neither of them looked exceptionally pleased.

"What took you so long?" My mom still sounded a little mad, but not near as bad as what it was at the house.

"I ran into Jacob." It was no use lying.

My dad raised his eyebrows and looked at me, obviously wanting the story. For my mom's benefit I decided to speak out loud. "So I was on my way here and Jacob must have seen me and he stopped to talk. We sort of…had a fight in the woods yesterday. I'm sure dad has probably told you all about that though."

My mom nodded, encouraging me to continue. I licked my lips, "So he came to talk about what my feelings. He didn't really understand at first, that I don't exactly trust imprinting I guess." The conversation we shared was a perfect memory in my mind. I went over it word for word quickly, knowing that my dad would tell my mom everything later.

They exchanged a glance at each other, and I knew my mom was letting dad read her thoughts. She always got a focused look when she did that, because it took some concentration.

"What about Nahuel?" She asked.

"There's nothing to tell about that. He asked me about Jacob, I started crying, and he was comforting me and we fell asleep." She raised her eyebrows like she didn't believe me, but then she looked at dad.

"She's telling the truth." He said simply.

She just nodded at him, and then looked back at me. "Nessie, I'm not sure I understand. Why don't you want to be Jacob's imprint?"

I shrugged. "That's not it. I just don't want us to feel like we have to love each other. I just want us to feel like we love each other because we want to."

"Nessie why don't you just trust what you two have? I think you're confusing yourself by trying to fight it."

I stared at her, my mouth gaping open and my breath huffing out. I was absolutely speechless, my head was completely blank. "Well I wouldn't be confused if imprinting didn't exist. Imprinting is not love. I want to experience love not imprinting."

"Honey imprinting is just like highlighting your love for him. It makes a stronger connection between you."

"The connection is imprinting, mother. It's not love." I was super angry right now. She couldn't understand any of this.

"Think of all the pain you must be causing Jacob."

She definitely just crossed the line.

"Renesmee!" My dad tried to stop the words I was about to say, but it was too late.

"Yeah mom you would know something about hurting Jacob, wouldn't you?" My voice was like venom.

She shrank back like she had been slapped. "That's…in the…past."

"Whatever."

My mom just looked at me with her mouth handing open and her eyes wide. She didn't even blink. I imagined she was picturing back when she was still human, going around hurting the two people she loved most back and forth.

"RENESMEE!" That was probably the first time I had ever heard my father yell at me. He apparently was reading my thoughts intently and they weren't pleasing him too much.

"The reason I thought I loved Jacob was you, Renesmee. Even before you were born, Jacob needed you."

"So now it's my fault?" Tears were gathering in my eyes. Half was because I was upset I had said that to my mom. I knew that one of the things she regretted most was causing Jacob or my dad pain. I knew that if she could take it back she would. The other half was because it somehow was always my fault. I couldn't do anything right.

"That's not what she was trying to say Renesmee. Nothing is your fault. You haven't done anything wrong." My dad was at my side in a flash and my mom soon joined him.

I put a finger on my mom's wrist, telling her I didn't mean what I had said. I told her I was just mad and I knew that it was in the past and it was all dealt with now. I looked up somberly at my dad. _I just needed someone to blame for hurting him. _He nodded at me to show me that he understood.

"Renesmee I forgive you, but I really can't let you get away with talking to me like that."

I just nodded. Being grounded was probably the least thing I deserved. I didn't really have any energy to speak so I again touched her arm and this time told her I was going to bed. There wasn't much more that I could take at 6:30 A.M.

& & &

"Nessie? Nessie, wake up."

"What?" I practically growled. I was tired of being waken up today.

"Uh, sorry it's Nahuel. Zafrina is leaving."

"Oh, _oh_, sorry Nahuel. I'm getting up." After I threw the covers off and stood up out of bed, I remembered what I was wearing; a black camisole and boy short underwear.

"Um…I'll let you get dressed. I'll be outside." Nahuel walked towards the door and looked back at me. His eyes seemed to linger on me just long enough to make me uncomfortable, and then he was out the door. I threw on a fitted sweatshirt that Alice had gotten me for my birthday and a pair of 300 dollar jeans, also from Alice. I didn't even look at my hair in the mirror, I just ran outside to meet Nahuel.

"Are you ready?" He asked me casually.

"Yeah, let's go."

We were running side by side through the woods. We were almost to the river when a thought occurred to me. "Hey Nahuel, does this mean you're leaving too?"

"Well, actually, I decided to stay a few extra days. My aunt is going home though."

"Oh." This surprised me. Why was he staying by himself?

We made it to the house and I ran inside to the living room where everyone was standing around saying goodbye. I ran up to Zafrina and wrapped my arms around her.

"You're leaving already? We barely got to hang out at all."

"I'm sorry, my Nessie. We aren't able to stay any longer this time."

"Well, come back soon then."

"You can count on it."

We released each other and I went around hugging the rest of the vampires that were leaving. After they had all left I wandered back into the living room.

"Cute outfit." Alice said smiling at me.

"Thanks, Alice. I really like it." I didn't even say anything about the price. I was used to being spoiled by her.

"I picked out the jeans." Jasper said proudly.

"Wow, Uncle Jazz I'm impressed." I said laughing.

"So was I." Alice's tinkling laugh filled the room.

"You're not wearing the bracelet we gave you." My mom gently brushed my wrist. My parents had given me a silver T&C bracelet. It was all I would ask for.

"Well, I literally jumped out of bed this morning and ran here. I forgot to put it on." My dad frowned suddenly and just barely glanced at Nahuel. Nahuel must have been remembering my 'pajamas' this morning. My cheeks automatically flushed and I casually walked into the kitchen. I sat down on the counter and looked at the bowl of fruit. I wasn't too big on human food, I really preferred blood but an apple looked sort of appealing. I picked it up and experimentally bit into it. It wasn't really good but it wasn't bad either so I just kept eating it.

Nahuel walked into the kitchen and smirked at me. "Human food for breakfast, huh?"

"I was just kind of feeling it this morning. I couldn't tell you why."

"Yeah, I've never had that feeling."

I just laughed. "Do you need to hunt then?"

"I probably should. I don't really want to go by myself though." He said giving me a puppy dog look.

"I guess I could go with you." I said with sarcasm. I put down my half eaten apple and hopped off the counter.

"Race ya." I said as I flew out the back door.

Nahuel was quicker to react then I had expected, and we were soon running side by side. After about six miles of straight sprinting, I started panting. It had been a while since I ran full out. Nahuel smirked at me as he passed me. He was about 100 feet ahead of me when I gave up.

"Fine Nahuel you win!" I called as I came to a stop.

I heard his laughter as he turned around and skipped back to me. "You're out of shape." He snickered.

"Shut up." I had my hands on my knees and my heart was beating wildly out of control.

Nahuel sat down in front of me and put his hands underneath his chin, making the appearance that he was waiting for me to catch my breath.

I straightened up and glared down at him. "I'm reading to go, almighty Nahuel."

He stood up and gave a little bow. "I am quite magnificent."

I threw a rock at him that he easily caught. "Are you going to keep bragging or are you ready to hunt?"

"I'm ready to hunt." He stated simply.

I inhaled deeply and caught the scent of a herd of elk about half a mile to my left. I took off at full speed, not even looking to see if Nahuel was behind me. I was determined to get the first and the best kill. The herd was in sight seconds later and I lunged for the leader. My fingertips brushed the beast's coarse fur when something smacked into my side. It knocked me out of the air in the opposite direction I was trying to go. A growl ripped from my throat as I was pinned to the ground. Nahuel was on top of me in the long grass with a wicked smile on his face.

"You weren't quite fast enough."

An outraged growl slipped out of my lips. "Are you going to let me up?" I asked impatiently.

"I'm considering it."

"Nahuel I swear if you don't get off me right now…" My voice trailed off slowly. His face was changing from amusement to a serious, focused look. He slowly unwrapped his fingers from my wrist, but I didn't move. I was frozen on the ground with Nahuel practically lying on top of me.

He started breathing a little harder than normal and I felt my own pulse accelerate. His head moved towards mine and panic started to rise in my throat. My feelings were confused enough as it was. I wasn't sure that this was the right thing to be doing at a time like this, but then again, this was what I wanted wasn't it? I had wanted a relationship other than Jacob, right?

All my thoughts were stopped short when Nahuel's lips gently brushed against mine. He was hesitant at first, but soon he pressed a little harder and my lips seemed to automatically respond. I really had no idea what I was doing to be honest. Everything about me had to be controlled and carefully managed. I had always known what was going on or how to do something, but this was something I was very unaccustomed to. It felt good though, to finally just feel free and go with the flow. But for some reason, Jacob's face came into my head. My stomach was sick with guilt. I felt guilty because I wasn't even sure I looked Nahuel this way, and I was leading him on and I felt really guilty because I knew that Jacob would have given up everything to be in this situation with me.

I pushed lightly on Nahuel chest and he automatically responded by pulling away and supporting himself on his own arms.

"Uh, Nahuel I'm not sure about this."

"Why not?" He asked me, still hovering on top of me.

I made the attempt to sit up and he immediately sat beside me on the grass.

"Well, mostly, um…"

"Jacob?" He finished for me.

"Yeah. I'm not sure how he would handle me…dating. And honestly, I'm not sure if I'm ready to date." Not that I could really handle it either, I thought as a familiar pain rippled through my stomach.

"Nessie, you're 18. Well, in maturity at least. I was under the impression that you didn't really care for Jake in that way. As you know, you're the only one of my kind that isn't family, and you're everything I would look for in a girl. I just want to try it. I've liked you for a while. If it doesn't work out, I'll just go back home and we can just be friends."

"Um, so we're just sort of each others experiments?" I was looking for an excuse out of this, I realized. Nahuel was a good friend, but he wasn't much compared to Jacob. But maybe they would be pretty even if it wasn't for imprinting.

"No, Nessie. We're each other's first dates." He looked me right in the eyes, looking for an answer.

I chewed on my bottom lip before speaking. "I think we should keep this between us for a while. Jake and I just had a fight. I really don't want to make him more upset. Plus, I don't know if my parents are ready for me dating. I technically just turned seven."

A huge grin stretched across Nahuel's tanned face as he stood up. "I know we can make this work."

He turned around and started running after the herd of elk, and I halfheartedly followed. As much as I wanted to believe it could work, the pain in my heart told me that I was just fooling the both of us. Nahuel was not who my heart wanted.

**A/N**: I hope you like this chapter!

Please review!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight..

I thought maybe I should throw that in there. Everyone else seems to…

5


	7. The Deal

7. The Deal

Renesmee's POV

So, basically life sucks. I finally get what I thought I wanted, but it doesn't really feel good. Okay, it doesn't feel good at all. Nahuel and I were walking back to the house, with me feeling basically like crap. My heart and my head were seriously at war. I was trying to tell myself that I had wanted a relationship and that I should just give Nahuel a chance while the pain I was feeling in my heart seriously threatened to crush me.

Nahuel was holding my hand and swinging our arms. Seriously, I don't think the guy could have been happier. We were almost to the house when I pulled my hand free.

"We're keeping this a secret, remember?" I asked, trying to put on a convincing smile.

"Oh right." He said smiling back.

"So you know that you can't think about it, at all. My dad is just going to read your thoughts and then we're both busted. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." He said seductively.

Whoa. Serious weirdness. I was pretty sure that Nahuel liked me a little more than I had thought before. Perfect.

We walked into the house and Jacob had joined my family on the couch. He was sitting next to Emmett and Jasper and the three of them were talking sports.

"Jake!" I half shouted with a smile plastered onto my face.

"Hi." He said a little slowly. He looked back and forth from me to Nahuel and I could guess what he was thinking.

"Where is everybody?" I asked.

"Rose, Alice, and Esme went out shopping. Your parents are back at home. Cleaning or something." Emmett snickered.

"Gross Emmett." I said rolling my eyes.

"Where have you been?" Jacob asked.

"Hunting." Nahuel answered a little short.

Jacob raised his eyebrows again looking back and forth between Nahuel and me. I walked over to where he sat on the couch and sat down by his feet.

"Where have you been lately?" I asked trying to make the conversation lighter.

"Just out patrolling." He said.

"Oh." I smiled up at him. He was very easy to smile at. He smiled back, almost twice as big and pulled me up on his lap like a little toddler.

"Do I get a baby bottle?" I asked in a little baby voice.

He laughed. "Yeah let's go get you one." He said pinching my cheek.

Jacob abruptly threw me over his shoulder which caught me totally off guard.

"Jake, what are you doing? Put me down!" I screamed pounding my fists against his back. I could have tickling him for all the effect it was having.

"Come on little baby. Let's go play outside."

Emmett and Jasper were laughing hysterically. It was probably quite a site; with me kicking and squirming wildly on top of a huge wolf/man. I glanced at Nahuel and he was definitely not smiling. There was a deep frown set into his tan face and when he caught my eyes I could see plainly that he was very unhappy.

I jerked my head up quickly in an effort to try and flip myself off Jake's shoulder and smacked my head on the top of the back door.

"OW!" I screamed.

Jake immediately set me down. "What did you do that for?" He asked trying to hide a smile.

"Jacob Black! You hit my head!"

"I did not! That was you."

"Bad dog!" I said pointing my little finger at his huge head.

Then we both started laughing. It was just giggles at first, but then we both exploded with laughter and I was holding my stomach just to try and keep it from hurting. I looked up at the door sill to see a little dent where my head hit it. This made me laugh even harder and I pointed up to the dent so Jake could see. He laughed harder when he saw it too and I fell onto the floor onto my back laughing. When our laughing finally subsided, I rolled onto my side to find Jacob sitting beside me.

We looked at each other and smiled. And it was about right then that I remembered Nahuel.

"Oh shoot! Where did Nahuel go?"

"We left him in the living room." Jacob instantly had a serious and suspicious look on his face.

I hopped up off the floor before he had a chance to question me and walked into the living room. It was just Emmett and Jasper.

"Hey guys, did you see where Nahuel went?"

"He said he wasn't feeling very well. He went upstairs to sleep. He asked that no one bother him." Jasper said eying me suspiciously.

I sighed and headed for the stairs.

"Seriously Nessie I think you should leave him alone." Jasper added.

"Well, okay." I said walking back to the kitchen.

Jacob was still where I left him, sitting on the kitchen floor with a concentrated look on his face.

"Uh-oh. That's your thinking face." I said laughing.

Jacob just smiled back at me and opened his arms. I said down on his lap without hesitation. "Let's go outside by the river." He said suddenly.

"Okay." I said as I stood up.

We just walked the short distance instead of running. Neither of us was in a hurry.

"So…" Jacob started.

I looked up at his face to try and read his expression. "So, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm fine, Nessie. I'm curious though. What's going on between you and Nahuel?"

"Nothing." I said shortly.

"Well, maybe you're not feeling anything for him, but I know he's feeling something for you."

"What makes you say that?" I tried to keep my voice even.

"I saw how he looked at you when we were messing around. And then he went upstairs to pout. It's kind of obvious."

"I don't like Nahuel." I stated. I thought he would see through the lie, but surprisingly it sounded very truthful. Maybe because it was the truth.

"I believe you. I just think he likes you. You better be careful." He added seriously.

"Careful?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Nessie, he looks at you like he's hungry for something. It's just something about him that just makes me a little worried. Just be careful is all I'm saying. I'm not going to tell you who to date; I'm just asking you to be smart." He added.

"Thanks, dad." I said trying to blow off his little speech.

"Shut up." He smirked down at me.

I stuck my finger in the river water. "It's warm enough to swim in." I commented lamely.

I looked up at him and he was smiling down at me. "You wanna?"

"Yes!" I said laughing. "Just let me go on back to the house and change really quick."

When I got to the river, it turned out that everyone was back home and everyone was changed to go and swim. Even Nahuel was outside in a pair of swim trunks. I skipped over to where everyone was at, talking and laughing. This wasn't a usual thing that we did. I only remember swimming with the whole family once when I was around three.

I walked over to the group and stood by my mom and dad. My mom had a black one piece swimsuit on that was very elegant but still stylish. My dad was still wearing a t-shirt with his swim trunks. I quickly took off my shirt to reveal a bright yellow bikini with a red embroidered flower on the top piece of the swimsuit. Rosalie had gotten it for me for my birthday.

"Ready to swim?" I asked my parents eagerly.

My mom smiled and nodded at me while my dad had a huge frown on his face.

"Are you sure you want to swim, Nessie. There are other things to do." He said quickly.

"Yeah, dad I'm sure."

He swept his eyes over my swim suit and I immediately saw what the problem was. He was worried his daughter was dressed a little inappropriately. I laughed when I saw his expression. I turned around and walked to the edge of the river. I was about to jump in with Emmett, Rose, Alice, Jake, and Jasper when I felt someone push me in from behind. I went flying into the river screaming at the top of my lungs. When I emerged from the water's surface I heard Nahuel's laughter.

"Nahuel!" I yelled angrily.

"I couldn't resist." He admitted weakly.

He jumped in laughing and we swam over to join everyone else.

"Water fight!" Emmett declared as soon as I had reached their little circle. Alice and Rose were squealing as the boys nearly drowned them with water. Emmett was smacking the water with his massive hand which caused a tidal wave with each smack.

"Emmett! Try and keep the water in the river!" Carlisle yelled laughing. He was wearing a sweater and swim trunks. Yeah, Carlisle would be the only person to ever do that. My parents were sitting in the grass beside Carlisle and Esme. It didn't look they were planning on getting in anytime soon.

"Fine." Emmett frowned.

"I have an idea! Let's play chicken!" Jasper said excitedly.

Emmett quickly agreed and Rose, Alice, and I looked at each other and shrugged.

"Why not?" I asked as I started to swim to Jake.

Nahuel grabbed me from behind.

"Hop on Nessie!" He tried to keep his voice light but it sounded a little commanding.

"Okay." For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea not to argue with him.

After all the girls were on the boys we formed a little circle.

"You guys up there can judge!" Alice shouted to Carlisle, Esme, and my parents sitting on the shore.

"Alright everybody get ready. On your mark, get set, go!" Shouted Esme.

Emmett lunged for Nahuel and I while Jasper and Alice started to go after Rose and Emmett. I was laughing as I tried to fight off Rose as she tried to fight off Alice. Emmett kicked Nahuel in the back of the knee cap and we were the first pair to go down.

"Haha chickens!" Emmett yelled pointing at us and laughing.

"Emmett!" Rosalie screamed as Jasper head butted Emmett and Alice pushed them over, causing a huge wave.

Once Emmett got above the surface, he was screaming for a rematch. Nahuel and I stood by each other in the water, laughing.

"We're not very good partners." I said laughing.

"You don't think so?" He asked me half serious.

I tried to blow it off with a laugh as I got out of the river. Jacob was standing on the shore by my parents and I walked over to them dripping wet.

"Are you done, honey?" my mom asked offering me a towel.

"Yeah thanks." I said taking the towel.

Jake was eerily quiet. It was a little uncomfortable standing there, so I laid my towel out on the grass and tried to catch the random spurts of sunshine that would break through the clouds.

_"Nessie, come with me." Nahuel said, holding out his hand._

_"No Nessie! Don't listen to him, come to me!" Jacob shouted holding out his other hand._

_"He doesn't love you, Nessie. Only I do." Nahuel said in a hypnotic voice._

_"Renesmee he's lying. You can't possibly believe him over me."_

_"Renesmee." Nahuel said once more, holding out his hand._

_"No! I won't choose!" I screamed at the two of them._

_"You have to." Jacob said._

_I took a step closer to Nahuel. Then Nahuel lunged at me and as he got closer, he smiled an evil smile. He knocked me over pinned me to the ground and whispered in my ear, "You should have picked Jacob."_

I woke up startled. I looked around me to see that I was in my bed and my alarm clock said it was around 3:00 A.M. I laid my sweaty forehead against the pillows and tried to breathe calmly in and out and slow down my heart rate. It was ridiculous that a dream should shake me this badly. As soon as my pulse was normal and I had stopped panting, I started to hear some awkward noises coming from my parent's room. I gracefully leaped off of the bed and stepped quietly outside. I was sure they wouldn't notice.

I just needed to go on a little walk to clear my head. I walked farther into the woods instead of towards the Cullen house, just needing to be alone. I had told myself that I didn't want imprinting to be what kept Jake and me together. And I loved just being his friend. I loved him being my best friend. When he was with me it just felt like I could breathe a little easier.

However, Nahuel was a good friend too. He was the only one who truly knew what it meant to be a rare kind. I was the only one out of my family that wasn't completely vampire. I was a half breed, a freak. Nahuel had known what that felt like. He was with me when I realized that I wasn't like mommy or daddy or any of my aunts and uncles. I had never thought of him romantically, but as I thought back to our kiss in the grass, it really was nice. And I had let him do it, so if I turned back now that would be hurting Nahuel.

The real trick was trying to do this without hurting anyone. Dating Nahuel would hurt Jake, but dumping Nahuel would hurt Nahuel and cutting both of them off completely would make us all three unhappy.

My mom and her situation as a teenager came into my mind. Only, there was one difference; I would not be the cause to Jacob's pain. Nahuel and I would keep our relationship severely under wraps, and no one else would ever find out. I figured if we dated for around a month and I felt like I wanted to keep dating, I would tell everyone.

Right then I made myself a deal, if after a month, I felt like I loved Nahuel, he would be the one that I would choose. If at the end of the month Nahuel and I weren't working out, I would try and pursue a relationship with Jacob. If I survived that long.

**A/N:** I hope you like the chapter!

I really need some opinions here, so any reviews will be loved!

Please Review!


	8. Sunrise

8. Sunrise

Jacob's POV

It was a little after 3:00 in the morning when I heard Nessie get out of bed. I could tell she hadn't been sleeping well. I had been listening to her toss and turn in her sheets. I wanted so bad to lie down beside her, sweep her hair back from her face, to hold her in my arms and comfort her. The front door opening softly broke my concentration. I lifted my head up over the bolder where I was laying about a mile away. I was in wolf form so I could easily hear the reason she was leaving.

I gave Nessie her space and trailed silently behind her. Her eyebrows were pulled together like she was in deep concentration. She didn't stop walking and she never once looked up. I usually didn't follow her, but lately I was having an unusually strong pull towards her. She was meant to be with me forever and without her near me all my senses yearned for her. I never really told her how much I needed her; it wasn't necessary to make us both suffer. I just sucked it up and tried to be what she wanted. She wanted a happy care-free Jake, and that's what I would try to give her. No matter how much it killed me just to be standing next to her as a friend when I wanted so much more.

_Stop! _

I couldn't think about what I wanted. It wasn't about me. It was always about her. It would always be about her if I had anything to do about it. I took a deep breath and shook off the harmful thoughts. I looked ahead at Renesmee to see that she was walking back towards her house. I got a full view of her face and she looked so strained. It took every ounce of control I had to sprint over to her, take her face in my hands, and rub all the stress lines out of her marble face.

_STOP!_

Those thoughts were only going to make me feel worse. Suddenly, Nessie stopped about a mile from her house. At first I thought she saw me, but she sat down on a boulder at the foot of a tree. She put her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. She was staring straight ahead and I struggled to see what she was looking at. When I thought I would explode from curiosity, the sun burst from behind the horizon line. She was watching the sun rise.

The colors burned a purple, orange, and pink illuminating the morning skill. Each tree was silhouetted and with my eyes I could see the dew sparkling as the forest was woken with the sun. But its beauty paled in comparison to Renesmee. With the soft glow of the rising sun, her flawless skin was alight with a radiance that seemed to make my insides smolder and burn. My throat seemed to swell cutting off my air ways. My legs itched to run to her to the point where I had to physically hold myself back.

She sat calmly on her boulder, completely unaware of the raging emotions coursing through my wolf form, just because of her. I could no longer hold myself back and I stepped behind a tree to phase.

I walked quietly up behind her. The pain was too much for me to be separated from her now. I had to touch her.

"Nessie?" I whispered quietly. It was strange that she didn't hear my coming up behind her.

"Oh, hey Jake." She said. I had obviously broken her deep concentration.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked.

"Go ahead." She said motioning to the rock beside her.

I sat down eagerly barely touching her shoulder. Just that small physical contact quieted my body, but it did not satisfy it. I would gladly take it though.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" She nodded towards the sunrise.

"I've seen better things." I said shrugging.

She eyed my doubtfully. "Oh really?"

I nodded looking deeply into her eyes. Just looking at her stole my breath away. We didn't look away for a little while. I wasn't really sure I could even if I wanted to. She finally jerked her head forward breaking the connection between us. I let out my breath which I realized I had been holding and I saw her do the same. I wondered absentmindedly what she was feeling. I wondered if every fiber in her body was begging to reach out and hold onto me and never let me go like mine was.

I closed my eyes tightly and squeezed the bridge of my nose in an effort to try and control my thoughts.

"Jacob?" She asked a little panicky as she grabbed my wrist.

I didn't want to move. I didn't want to feel her let go. I grabbed her hand pretending to pull it off but I didn't let go of it.

"I'm fine." My voice was raw with an emotion that was surging through my veins, steady and strong.

"You look sad." She said, her voice dropping a few octaves.

"What do I possibly have to be sad about?" I asked draping my arm over her shoulders like it didn't almost make me pass out.

"Well…I…uh…I don't know."

"I got my best friend right here. Nothing could bring me down." I said giving her shoulders a squeeze.

She smiled but she didn't say anything. I was fairly certain she could see through my mask.

_I want you to be happy. _

In her message was Nessie watching me laugh from the other day. There was a tone to the memory and before I could try and figure out what it was, the image dropped from my mind.

"Nessie, as long as we're together, I'll always be happy."

She looked up at me with her big chocolate brown eyes and I stared back down at her. The familiar connection raced through me again and I knew she could feel it too. She closed her eyes, but she didn't look away. I took what chance I could and I cupped her cheek in my hand. She leaned her head into my huge palm and opened her eyes.

"I'm tired." She said with a yawn.

I bit my lip, trying not to show my disappointment. That wasn't exactly the response I was hoping for.

"You could probably get a few more hours of sleep before you have to get up." I suggested weakly. I pulled my hand from her cheek and she seemed to frown ever so slightly.

I couldn't stop the smile of satisfaction that crept onto my face. "You look a little delirious." I said trying to play it off.

"I feel a little bit delirious." She said laughing. The sound warmed me from head to foot.

She stood up and stretched and I stood with her.

"What are you doing today?" She asked more politely than curiously.

"What do I do everyday?" I asked her sarcastically.

"Hang out here." She said.

"That's what I was thinking about doing."

"Well, don't let me stop you." She smiled teasingly at her.

I made sure my feet were firmly rooted to the ground. Otherwise, I would have just lurched toward her and possibly…

"Nessie! There you are. I went to your house…" Nahuel's voice strayed off and I assume he noticed that I was with her. I wouldn't have noticed though, I was still looking at Nessie.

"Hey Nahuel. I was watching the sunrise and I ran into Jacob." She said pointing her thumb at me.

Well, the moment was nice while it lasted.

**A/N:** There's not really much to say…

Enjoy!

Please review!!!!


	9. Desire

9. Desire

Nahuel's POV

I walked up to Nessie's window, afraid to disturb her parents by knocking on the front door. I pressed my hands to the glass and looked inside. My stomach dropped when I saw she wasn't in her bed. I swept my eyes around the rest of the room to see she was nowhere to be seen. I walked around to the front door and inhaled deeply. Her sweet scent still lingered there. It wasn't strong, but I knew it was Nessie.

I walked swiftly, following her scent. I was a little angry. I wanted to surprise her today in her bed. I wanted to wake her up to sweep her off her feet and carry her into the forest. Since we were secretly dating, I would have had to have nothing on my mind. But looking at Nessie, it was hard to keep my thoughts innocent. She had the body of a goddess and her shy personality just tied it all together. She was the sexiest creature I had ever seen. No one could compare to her intense beauty.

I mean I'm over 100 years old now and I have never gotten anything. It was about time I got my fair share. Nessie and I were the same kind and we weren't related. It was perfect. I silently thanked the gods again that imprinting existed. It was the only thing that kept her and Jake apart. Without it, I knew I probably wouldn't even have a chance.

I didn't only like Nessie for her sex appeal though. She was a nice girl. I wasn't really sure that she was my type, but she would work. We got along really well and she seemed to trust me. That was enough for me.

Her scent seemed to fade and then get stronger all at once. It took me about a second to figure out that she had looped back toward the house. Her scent was not the only scent I caught though. There was also a musty dog like scent. Anger flashed through my body and jealously crept into my bones.

There was an explainable connection between them. That much was clear. Hopefully for me, Nessie just kept fighting it. I could see in his eyes that Jacob didn't trust me. I could see how he loved Nessie. No one could deny it. Sometimes I saw it in her face too. There was nothing I could do to secure myself a spot. Why did this mutt have the right to imprint on her? What made him so deserving?

I walked up to where they were standing. He was looking down at her with a look that could only be described as love. She was smiling down at the ground shyly. She knew he was looking at her and it made her blush. She saw me coming and her head snapped over to me.

"Nessie! There you are. I went to your house…" My voice got lost. Jacob didn't even look my way. He just kept ogling at _my_ girlfriend.

"Hey Nahuel. I was watching the sunrise and I ran into Jacob." She said pointing a thumb at Jacob. She sounded a little too innocent.

Jacob sighed and finally turned to look at me. His eyes held a little bit of annoyance, but mostly jealously. My chest swelled with pride. He was jealous of me. Hah. I had the one thing he wanted the most.

"Well, the pack is having breakfast at Sam's this morning. I told him I'd go." Jake wasn't talking to me. He was looking straight at Renesmee.

"Okay. Try to squeeze a nap in there if you can. You look worn out." She said brushing the bags under his eyes with her fingers.

I could see the physical restraint it took Jacob not to return her touch. He just smiled a tight smile at her and walked off into the trees. Nessie looked after him until we could hear him running on four legs.

I was at her side at an inhuman speed. I kissed her softly on the lips. She returned the kiss but in a shy way. I longed to deepen the kiss and sweep my tongue into her mouth. Instead I pulled back.

"Good morning." I said rubbing her hair.

"Morning." She smiled shyly.

It wasn't the kind of shy smile she gave Jacob though. It was the kind of shy smile you give someone that you're not comfortable around type of shy smile. It took some effort not to frown back at her.

"You should probably go get dressed." I said tucking a piece of stray hair behind her ear. She ducked her head.

"Yeah. I suppose I shouldn't go up to the house in pajama pants and a t-shirt." She said starting to walk back to her cabin.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me again. I kissed her again, but a little longer this time. I could feel her hesitation and it displeased me greatly.

"You okay?" I asked softly.

"Sure, sure." Obviously a habit she picked up from Jake.

"I'll see you at the house then." I said brushing her cheek with my finger.

She gave me a more genuine smile as she turned and jogged back to her house. I watched her go with an impure desire.

**A/N:** I'm not really sure what I think of this chapter.

So reviews would be great!!!!

Many thanks!

2


	10. Walls

10. Wall

Renesmee's POV

As soon as I was out of Nahuel's sight, I was sprinting. There was a weird feeling bubbling inside me, and I just had to try and escape it. Nahuel's kiss lingered on my lips and I had an urge to wipe them with the back of my hand. There was desire in the kiss no doubt about that. Sure kissing felt good, but I wasn't sure it was smart. He seemed to already be pushing it for our second day of 'dating.'

I opened the door quietly to see my dad standing right in the doorway. He had a very displeased look on his face so I assumed he had either been reading my thoughts or Nahuel's.

"I read both of your thoughts. Mostly Nahuel's though."

My heart rate accelerated considerably.

"What was he thinking?" I managed to choke out very slowly.

"A lot about you Renesmee." The muscles in my father's face tightened showing his irritation.

I looked at the ground and started reciting the alphabet in Chinese very, very intently in my head.

"Renesmee! I need to know everything, _now_." He demanded after the second time through.

I was really good at controlling my thoughts so I focused entirely on what I was about to say, and not what had happened.

"Dad, this isn't fair. Nobody else's parents can just read everybody's minds and get all the answers they want. Why can't you just stay out of it! I know you might not realize it but I'm an adult. I'm plenty old enough to think what I want and make my own decisions. So is Nahuel."

"You know I can't just turn it off. The only person that can block me is your mom, so you'll just have to deal with it. It may not seem fair to you, but I can't do anything about that. So one way or the other, I'm going to find out Nessie. You better just save yourself the trouble and tell me what's going on."

"No." I wanted my thoughts to be private. I shut my eyes and I pulled all my thoughts to the dark corners of my mind. They seemed more distant there and I struggled to put up a wall against my father. If my mom could do it, then surely I inherited something of it. I had to try.

"Renesmee." He whispered in awe.

I threw all my concentration into my wall. It started off small and weak, but the stronger I focused, the stronger it felt. I could feel it shading my thoughts. It was my own personal force field.

I could feel my dad's powers probing the corners of my refuge. I knew I wasn't strong enough to hold it up for long. I turned around and sprinted from the cabin at full speed knowing that if my dad wanted to catch up with me, he could. This pushed me to run faster and it didn't even matter where I was going. I could feel him cracking my wall. He was trying very, very hard to read my thoughts right now.

Suddenly, the pressure stopped completely. It was almost haunting. It was like one second my head was completely at war and then the next, nothing. My whole body started shaking and I sat down on a nearby log. My chest felt so tight that I was panting to get oxygen down to my lungs. I put my face in my hands as I tried to grasp the reality of what I had just done.

I had blocked my thoughts from my father. Everyone had always wished they could stop his intruding gift and I just did. I made my head personal. After the shock started to wear off, I had an almost giddy feeling. I wanted to run farther and farther and never come back. I had an odd urge to embrace freedom. It was like it was sitting right in front of me for the taking, and all I had to do was run. Nobody would ever find me. They couldn't track my mind, and I knew ways to disguise a scent.

I rubbed my temples with my fingers and immediately erased those thoughts from my mind. _Just because I finally got my chance to have private thoughts doesn't mean you can run away. It's not like I could leave Jacob either. Er-uh-Nahuel I mean. Yeah, Nahuel, Nahuel, Nahuel…That's not nearly as fun to say as Jacob, Jacob- AH STOP!  
_My head is a complete mess. It's a good thing nobody can see what's really happening to me. I would hate for someone to have to listen to me die. I stopped using my fingers to massage my temples and instead I put pressure against my forehead. I had to stop thinking negatively, I was going to live out my deal and so was everyone else.

I was going to be strong; I had to be. I ran my fingers through my auburn curls and slowly stood up. I sucked up all my energy to my head to mend my wall. It seemed to be stronger this time, since I had a little bit of an idea what I was doing. Once I felt like it was secure enough to withstand my father's gift, I took off toward the house. I was probably about six miles away when I heard someone running behind me.

They were faster than I was and by the sound of it heavier too. I heard them lunge towards me and I improvised by grabbing a tree branch and swinging myself up. Emmett soared through the air underneath my branch barely missing me.

"Missed." I said tauntingly.

"You're getting better. But I'm still, faster, stronger--"

"I'm smarter!" I blurted out cutting him off.

"Oh please, with a face like this I don't need to be smart."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Come on we have to get you back to the house. Everyone is looking for you."

"Oh." With a force that nearly knocked me off my branch, I felt the searching fingers of mind reading fight against my shield. Yeah, my dad was definitely freaking out. It took nearly all my concentration to keep my wall intact.

"Uh, Nessie? Let's get going before Edward chews my face off."

I hopped down from my branch silently. I wasn't really sure I could speak at the moment. Emmett raced ahead of me in an effort to show off and I followed at my own pace. Eventually, the river and the white house came into view. Everyone was waiting outside in the backyard. Obviously they had all been searching.

Emmett and I joined the group with some awkward stares coming at me. My father caught my eyes and I looked down quickly. My hands balled into fists as I put all my focus into my wall.

"Earth to Nessie!" Alice shouted waving a hand in front of my face.

"What?" I asked a little strained.

She eyed my face suspiciously before she spoke, "Did you hear Carlisle?"

"I'm sorry what?" I asked facing Carlisle. My forehead was wrinkled with concentration as I tried to pay attention.

"Do you need to hunt? You look a little…strained."

"No, no I just need some sleep." I said forcing my lips into a tight smile.

"I'm tired too." Nahuel said with a yawn.

"Maybe you two should go lay down." Esme said sweetly.

I turned to go back toward the cabin with Nahuel behind me when dad grabbed my arm.

"Upstairs." He said.

"What?" I huffed.

"Go upstairs. I need to talk to you now." He wasn't shouting but his voice was icy and chilled me all the way through.

"You can go ahead Nahuel. I'll be there in a minute." I said turning to go inside.

I met eyes with Rosalie and she looked at me compassionately. After we got inside what used to be my dad's old bedroom he shut the door quietly and turned to face me.

He walked forward to me slowly and I automatically stepped one stepped back for every one of his steps. His face burned with irritation as he flashed to my side and grabbed my arm so I couldn't move.

"What?" I asked rudely.

"Why are you doing this Renesmee? You've never acted bitter about my gift before."

"That was before I had a personal life dad. I'm 18. You've got to accept it sometime."

"That's not what I have a problem with. I just want to know what you're trying to hide so badly. You know you can tell me anything." He said his face softening a bit.

"I know daddy." I whispered. I wanted to so bad to let down my wall to let him feel the confusion and pain I felt, but I knew I couldn't. I was the one who caused it all so I had to suck it up and deal with it myself. I felt him push slightly on my wall and I winced as I put it back up to full force.

"Please. Stop. Pushing." I said looking him straight in the eyes.

He looked into my eyes for a long time before letting go of my arm.

"Just know your mother and I will always be here for you. You can tell us anything."

"I know. You'll be the first two people I talk to if I need someone."

He sighed before turning around and walking out the door. Aloneness haunted my body as I watched my last life line being reeled in. I was totally alone on this one.

**A/N:** I thought the little mind blocking thing was an interesting little twist!

I kinda thought of it last minute to be honest.

Anyways, tell me whatcha think!!!

3


	11. Nap

11. Nap

Renesmee's POV

I made my way down the stairs and I had some awkward stairs coming towards me from everyone downstairs. They were all in the living room but I could feel their eyes on me as I walked past the entryway. All of them being vampires and having super hearing, I knew they had just heard what went on between my dad and me.

I walked out the back door taking my time back to the cabin. My feet seemed to be leaded and I realized how tired I really was. This situation was more stress then my body was used to. Eventually I made my way up to my house and I walked into the front door. My feet shuffled down the hallway and it made a strange echoing noise in our empty house. I pushed my door open weakly and almost jumped when I saw Nahuel sitting on my bed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise.

"We said we were going to go lay down remember?" He asked raising an eyebrow at me.

"Oh…right." I said sitting down beside him.

Nahuel moved my long auburn ringlets off of my back and started rubbing my back in little circles. It was so relaxing; I could feel my eyelids start to droop and the knots in my neck and back seemed to be melting out. Nahuel gently pushed me on the side of my torso to get me to lie down on the bed and I didn't fight him at all. I felt like someone had taken a vacuum and sucked out all of my energy.

He had his arm wrapped around my waist so I was lying in the crook of his arm with my head on his shoulder. It was quite warm and comfortable. I snuggled in closer breathing in the scent of him and closing my eyes.

"Wow you really are tired." Nahuel whispered against my cheek still lightly rubbing my back.

"True story." I sighed into his shoulder.

He momentarily stopped rubbing my back and I opened my eyes.

"Why did you stop?" I asked sleepily.

"I didn't realize you liked it so much." He said smiling.

"It feels so good." I said closing my eyes again.

He started rubbing my back again and I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was asleep. I felt him shift slightly underneath me and then his lips pressed very gently against mine.

"Sleep tight." He whispered against my face.

His sudden sweetness took me by surprise. There was no hunger in this kiss, only adoration and gentleness. I smiled at him with my eyes closed and kissed his shoulder.

"Night, night." I said half asleep.

I heard him chuckle softly before I drifted off to sleep.

& & &

My awakening was not very pleasant. I was in the middle of a very nice dream when it turned into a nightmare. I woke up feeling like I was being run over by a truck and when I looked up Jake was lying on top of me and bouncing me up and down.

"Wake up lazy!!" He yelled right in my ear.

"Get off!" I screeched groggily. I pulled the pillow out from underneath my head and whacked him on the head as hard as I could.

He just laughed and grabbed my arm and pulled me up to a sitting position. I started rubbing the sleep out of my eyes when I suddenly thought of Nahuel. I was instantly awake and I whipped my hands from my face and automatically looked beside me on the bed. He wasn't there and my heart rate returned to my normal pace.

"Uh…who are you looking for Ness?" Jake asked.

"Oh no one. I must have just had a dream someone else was in here or something." I tried to explain casually.

"Oh. So what did you do to make your dad so mad?" He asked raising an eyebrow at me.

"What makes you think he's mad?"

"Maybe the fact that he's just sitting on the couch at Esme's house with a look on his face that basically looks like he might eat you."

"Oh. I guess that would be a good give-a-away."

"Yeah, so what did you do?"

"Well, basically I learned how to block my thoughts so that he can't read them and since he always has to know everything, it sort of bugs him."

"You learned how to block his thoughts!?" He asked stunned and jaw hanging open.

"Yeah. I figured I must have had a least a little bit of my mom's gift passed onto me so I decided to try it." I said shrugging like it was no big deal.

He shook his head. "You really are amazing Renesmee."

Jake didn't really say my full name very often but every time he did I got a little rush through my veins and a tingly feeling up my spine.

"Why thank you Jacob." I said standing up and taking a little bow.

He stood beside me and mock applauded.

"So did they send you to come wake me up?" I asked him stretching.

"Nope. They just told me you were sleeping and I figured you had slept long enough."

My mouth opened and my breath huffed out. "No fair! I was in the middle of a good dream." I said pouting my lower lip.

"Yeah I watched some of it." He smirked at me.

"You did not." I said defiantly.

"Yeup. I sure did."

My cheeks flushed and I crossed my arms over my chest. "What was I dreaming then?"

"That you were on an island completely alone and you had not a care in the world."

"Nice try." I said relaxing. It was a good thing he didn't know _why_ I wanted to be on that island.

He just shrugged. "Let's go out to the reservation. The boys are cliff diving today."

"Yeah!" I said jumping up and down like a little kid. He knew cliff diving was my favorite.

"Awite wittle girl. But you have to pwomise to be careful."

"Shut up!" I said running out the door with Jake right behind me.

As soon as we got out the door I heard the rip of his clothes and the sound of four paws landing beside me.

"Cheater! You have four legs I only have two." I screeched kicking up my pace.

He seemed to bark a laugh as he flew past me. I pushed my legs to go faster when suddenly out of nowhere; someone yanked me from the side. A small yelp of surprise escaped from my lips and I looked up into Nahuel's face.

"Gosh Nahuel! You just about gave me a heart attack!" I said panting from shock.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought you may have been wondering where I was."

"Oh, yeah. I was sort of confused when I woke up from my nap. When did you leave?"

"I heard someone coming towards the house and I figured it wouldn't go over too well if we were caught sleeping together…again." He said sighing.

"Yeah probably not." I agreed.

He tenderly rubbed my arm like he rubbed my back last night and a small smile automatically crept onto my lips. He pressed his lips to mine similar to the way he did earlier this morning. We both heard a four legged animal running towards us and we both took an automatic step back. Nahuel nodded a goodbye at me and then flew off in the opposite direction. When Jacob stood in front of me as a wolf he cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Sorry, I just stopped to talk to Nahuel for a second. Let's go." I said as I ran by him knowing that he wouldn't be able to respond anyways.

We had made it to the edge of the woods and I turned around waiting for Jake to phase back. I heard him phase and I was about to turn around when he screamed, "No don't!"

I was about to turn around anyway to make sure he was okay when I remembered something. "You ripped your clothes didn't you?" I asked laughing.

"Yes." I could hear the embarrassment in his voice.

I started laughing so hard that I had to sit on the ground and wrap my arms around my waist.

"Are you done yet?" He asked annoyed.

"One sec…HAHAHA! Okay, now I'm done."

"Just run to my house and grab me a pair of shorts please." He grumbled.

"Wait a minute, what do I get for it?" I asked tauntingly.

"You can go cliff diving with me." He stated plainly.

It didn't really sound like he was kidding. I took off at full speed towards his house. Even though I wasn't as fast as a normal vampire, human eyes wouldn't be able to see me dart through the streets. I was back to Jake in about four minutes with my hand covering my eyes and holding out the shorts like they were diseased with the other hand.

"Thank you." He said snapping them out of my hand.

"Sure thing." I said sarcastically. I heard the swish off fabric being pulled against skin and I knew he had his pants on. I opened my eyes to see that he was still glaring at me but I was pretty sure he was just trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Alright, are you ready to go cliff diving?" He asked with a taunting smile.

"YES!" I shouted.

"Well alright then let's go!"

**A/N: Wow this took me forever to put up. Sorry about that. Everything just got really busy and in my free time I was sleeping instead of writing =P**

**Well, enjoy your much awaited chapter! That is…if you were waiting for it to be posted which I'm sure only a small number of you were ;)**


	12. The Dive

12. The Dive

Jacob's POV

We walked side by side up the mountain towards the cliff's edge. Renesmee was telling me a story and she was really getting into it. She used her hands a lot; waving them around and wiggling her fingers for dramatic effect. It was just one of those little things that I loved about her. Her story was serious but a smile kept playing with the corners of my lips.

She paused for me to respond and she saw my expression.

"What?" She asked self consciously pulling on the edge of her shirt.

"Nothing, nothing. That was a good story." I added lamely.

"Shut up. You weren't even listening." She said shoving my shoulder.

I laughed unable to deny her. I had been too busy ogling at her to hear what she had been saying.

"There you guys are!" Quil said relieved. Claire stood beside him. She was technically older than Nessie, but looking at the two of them you would never guess it. She was in those years where she was changing from a girl to a teenager and even now you could tell she would be beautiful.

"Yeah we thought you ditched out on us." Embry said.

"You don't think I would miss a chance to go cliff diving do you?" Renesmee asked bravely. I loved it when she did that.

"Good point." Sam said smiling.

Renesmee smiled politely at him but I knew he wasn't her favorite. Pretty much everyone knew it but no one really knew why. Claire started tugging on Quil's arm.

"Can we jump yet?" She asked pouting her lip slightly.

"Yeah, sure, sure. Come on guys are you ready yet?" Quil asked eager to give Claire what she wanted.

"Hey Claire, isn't this your first time jumping?" I asked.

"Yeah." She said proudly.

"AHHHH!!" Paul said as he flew beside us and jumped off the edge.

"Show off." Jared muttered under his breath. Even though we could all hear it.

"You ready Claire?" Renesmee asked her excitedly.

She walked closer to the edge and grabbed Claire's hand on the way. Claire looked a little less excited and I thought Quil was going to throw up he was so nervous.

"Dude, chill. Nessie won't let her drown." I said putting a hand on his shoulder.

This seemed to be a new thought to him and the color drained from his face.

"Claire maybe you should jump with me!" He managed to choke out.

"No, I'm jumping with Nessie."

Nessie looked back at me over her shoulder and gave me a quick smile that made my breath catch in my throat. Then she looked down at Claire.

"Ready?" She asked crouching to jump.

Claire just nodded nervously.

"On the count of three. One, two…three!" Nessie shouted as she jumped into the air. Claire jumped with her and together they fell through the air holding hands. Not two seconds after they had jumped, Quil lunged himself off the cliff. He went out further then the girls had jumped, so he wouldn't land on them.

I laughed and looked beside me at Jared. He was also laughing and we both looked over the edge into the water. Nessie had come up with a firm grip on Claire's arm and as soon as Quil saw Claire's shiny black hair break the surface he swam over to her and led her to shore. As soon as they were out of the way, I jumped. I loved the way I felt on the way down. It was like my body was out of my skin and I could just fall forever. I crouched up into a ball right before I hit the water causing a huge splash.

The water swirled around me in little bubbles tickling my skin. It only took a few strong strokes to get my head above the water and I couldn't have had more perfect timing. Nessie was walking out of the water and onto the shore. Her t-shirt was soaking wet and clinging against her waist and chest in a way that appealed to my senses like she never had before. I had always thought she was beautiful before, but this was different. I _wanted_ her. Not only emotionally anymore, but now physically too. She walked up onto the beach; each of her long slender legs exposed by her small black shorts that were clenched to her like a second layer of skin. I could see the beauty and grace of each step she took and even her back was sculpted and beautiful. But what really sent me over the edge was when she shook her long auburn curls in the air which sent my body into an unfamiliar frenzy.

My skin suddenly felt hotter than usual and the undying need I felt for her kept getting stronger. I dunked my head under the water in an effort to try and get her image out of my head, but it was no use. The picture of her walking soaking wet through the sand was forever burned into my memory. I swam quickly to shore, eager to talk to her.

"Are you going to jump again?" I asked running up to her side.

"Well, I was thinking about it." She said smiling at me with the water running down her cheeks.

I smiled back at her but it felt like I had swallowed my tongue.

"Uh…you alright there Jake?" She asked knocking on my forehead.

"Sure, sure."

"Let's jump together this time." She said grabbing my hand and running up the path.

The movement of her body sent the frenzy back up into my skin and it took everything I had not to sweep her perfect frame into my arms and never put her back down. I followed willingly and soon we were standing at the edge of the cliff. She looked at me and wiggled her body excitedly which instantly turned my knees to jello.

"Do you think we could front flip if we were holding hands?" She asked curiously.

"Well, knowing that I can do about anything, I bet we probably could." I said even though I was positive I could do anything if it gave me a chance to touch her.

She smiled and turned to jump. I watched her legs bend the muscles flex in her legs as she pushed off the rock. I jumped about a second after her and yelled, "Tuck now!"

We both curled into a ball and our momentum sent us flying in a summer salt just in time for us to smack the water flat on our stomachs. I broke the surface about a second before she did. I braced myself to see her but there was no preparation for this. She swung her head up as she came above the water and her hair flung backwards as she gasped for air. Unable to control myself, I reached over to her and grabbed her waist pulling her against me.

"You okay?" I asked trying to sound casual.

"Never better." She said smiling.

We just floated for a second before she turned and started swimming for shore. My body instantly swam to follow her, and I knew there was nothing in the world that could keep us apart for long.

**A/N: There's really not too much to say. So….enjoy!!**

**Reviews are very appreciated =)**

3


	13. That Stupid Smirk

13. That Stupid Smirk

Renesmee's POV

My skin was on fire. The way Jacob had reached out and pulled me to him could only be described as aggressive and it made my whole body flush. I heard him swimming behind me towards shore and no matter how cold the water was my body couldn't seem to calm down. My breathing was ragged as I walked up onto the beach. I looked over my shoulder to see if Jacob was behind me and my breath caught in my throat. He only had shorts on, like usual, but the water made the sunlight glint off of him and the water ran down his toned stomach in little ripples.

I whipped my head back around and tried to take deep breaths without him noticing. I heard him quicken his pace to stand beside me. I tried not to look over at him but it was too tempting. I looked over right at his naked chest and my eyes slowly made it up to his face. He had a smirk on his face and I was pretty sure he had just caught my wandering eyes. My cheeks flushed and I looked down at my feet. The sand was stuck to them in a fine coat. I was busy picking each sand crystal apart with my eyes when I felt Jake's fingers brush against my arm.

I cautiously looked up at his face. There was a smirk across his lips but a more intense look coming from his eyes reminding me of the way I had just been looking at him. He took a step closer to me and my heart starting pounding so hard I thought it would break through my ribs. He reached up and ran his fingers through my wet hair to push it back from my face.

Slowly, he lowered his head down to mine and I let my eyes shut. I was in no way about to stop this moment. I could feel his face was only inches from mine and I had just started to lean in towards him when he said, "Let's get you home."

I opened my eyes with surprise to see him a foot back from me with a triumphant look shining in his eyes. I was surprised at how disappointed I felt. I had wanted Jacob to kiss me. And from the look on his face, he knew it too.

"Okay." I said trying to not to let any emotion slip into my voice. After saying goodbye to the pack, the walk back home was slow and quiet. I didn't really know what to say. I was embarrassed and a little ashamed. But Jacob, he was surrounded with an aura of pride and triumph. It was a little unsettling.

"So…" Jake said in a cheery voice.

"So." I responded in a bleak voice.

"What's a matter Nessie?" He said in a teasingly. I wasn't even looking at his face but I could hear the smile in his voice.

I let out a long sigh.  
"I'm just tired."

"Sure sure."

I looked up at him to see him staring straight ahead with that stupid smirk on his face. His little smirks just always seemed to get to me. Irritation flashed across my features and I said the first thing that popped into my head.

"You didn't have to do that to me you know. I just reached maturity. There's a lot going on with my body that I don't even know about. You didn't have to take advantage of that at the beach."

His grin only seemed to get wider.

"Sorry Ness. I was under the impression you wanted me to."

I just shut my mouth and looked back down at my feet.

2


	14. The Overdue Kiss

14. The Overdue Kiss

Jacob's POV

I don't think I have ever felt so accomplished in my life. Nessie had wanted me to kiss her. She really did. And I had pulled away. At first I questioned my logic, but on the walk home I could see her picturing the almost kiss over and over in her head. I couldn't stop smiling.

I looked down at her walking beside mine. Her shoulders were slouched and her head was bent down and I swear her eyes never left her feet. All in all, it was a very unusual position for the always graceful and modest Renesmee.

"So whatcha wanna do when we get home?" I asked in a light voice.

"I told Nahuel I would hang out with him." She responded still looking at the ground.

And just like that, my smile vanished and my good mood was gone.

"So…what's going on between you two?"

"Nothing." She replied looking up at me and giving me an innocent smile.

If this was her way of getting back at me, it was working.

"I'm not blind. I see the way he looks at you."

"Oh yeah? And how is that Jacob?" She replied curtly.

"He wants you Renesmee. Open your eyes."

"They are open. And he's a really, really nice guy. He's not like that."

I started to really heat up. "Look at you, you stupid girl! You're the most beautiful and desirable creature in existence. If you ever find a guy that doesn't want to bang you, you just let me know."

A petite hand flashed across my vision and came into contact with my cheek faster than I could blink. Without thinking, I grabbed Nessie's wrists and pushed her back roughly into a tree. She gasped with surprise but wasn't able to move an inch. My body was pressed tightly against hers and I had both her wrists pinned above her head. Her breathing was ragged and I felt the rise and fall of her chest against me. It was then that I actually realized exactly how close I was to her. I felt each curve of her slender body beating against mine. My breathing picked up and I looked down at her soft features and I felt my anger and frustration melt away. It was replaced with desire. I felt her pull towards me and I could no longer resist her.

My lips came down on hers roughly, but to my surprise her lips responded just as aggressively. I dropped her wrists and put my arms around her petite waist, pulling her closer to me. I felt her fingers tangle in my hair and she pulled me roughly towards her. Her legs wrapped around my waist and my hands were around her squeezing tighter and tighter. It was like I couldn't get her close enough. I kissed her perfect lips again and again; unable to stop. But I took the fact that her legs were wrapped so tight on my waist and her fingers tangled in my hair that she didn't want me to stop either.

After a few minutes, Nessie pulled her head back gasping and leaned her forehead against mine. I looked into her chocolate eyes and they were alight with excitement and her cheeks were flushed bright red. She smiled a sweet smile at me and I smiled back and leaned back in to kiss her.

She stopped my lips with her hand and I opened my eyes, surprised. I opened my mouth to ask her if something was wrong, but she spoke before I could.

"Um…I was just wondering…what took so long?" She asked with a teasing smile on her face.

I smirked back at her. "I was about to ask you the same thing."

She smiled at me before pulling me in for another kiss. We kissed again, but it wasn't like before. There was more than just desire in this kiss. It was longer and full of passion. Our lips broke apart and she let out a satisfied sigh. I let her slip down to the ground to stand beside me and we just smiled at each other.

"I told you that you wouldn't be able to resist me for long." I said tucking her hair behind her ear.

"You never said that." She asked giving me a suspicious glance.

"Oh. Well I meant to."

She smiled at me and shook her head and I bent down to give her a quick kiss. Then I grabbed her hand and swinging our arms, we headed off for home. Both of us going at a slow walk, and smiling the whole way.


	15. Endless Bliss

15. Endless Bliss

Renesmee's POV

I was so happy. There wasn't any other emotion inside my body other than pure happiness. I strolled along in the woods, holding Jake's hand and feeling like I was invincible. Like nothing could ever happen to me as long as I was holding his big warm hand. I brought our hands up to my lips and kissed the back of his hand.

He looked down at me in adoration.

"I love you." I said smiling.

He kissed me passionately on the lips and then he leaned his forehead against mine. "You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that."

It was in this moment; this moment of pure bliss that I heard a voice packed with anger calling my name.

"Renesmee." Nahuel said slowly.

"Nahuel." I said my eyes bulging wide. I had forgotten about him completely. My eyes flashed to Jake and he was looking down at me with a curious but somehow also knowing face.

"What have you done?" It was more a statement than a question forced through Nahuel's clenched jaw.

My body seemed frozen and my mind was completely blank. I stared back at Nahuel with an empty expression. Nahuel's glare intensified and I felt Jake move to stand in front of me.

"She hasn't done anything wrong." He said protectively.

Nahuel's expression turned sweet.

"Oh, Jake. You wouldn't know. She didn't tell you."

"It doesn't matter if she never told me you two were trying to date. It's her business."

Now my surprised stare turned to Jacob. This guy really did know me inside and out.

"She kissed you when she was dating me. She didn't even want you before today. She's probably just faking it now. Slut."

Jake stood a little taller before me and squared his shoulders at Nahuel. "Don't ever call my Nessie a liar or a slut."

"But Jacob, that's what she is. You know this."

I felt Jake trembling in anger. "No. I know that she is not either of those things. I also know that she was confused earlier about our relationship, but based on her current actions I think you and I could both agree that she is sure now. She never wanted _you _Nahuel. She's just too nice to tell you how much you creep her out."

Nahuel let out an enraged howl. It was clear his plan to turn Jake against me wasn't going to work. I saw him crouch into a hunter's lunge and Jake saw it too. He pushed me back a little farther and became a wolf right before my eyes.

"No." I whispered finally able to speak.

I watched Jake snarl at Nahuel before lunging toward him with horror planting my feet where I stood. My heart pounded hard in my chest as I watched Nahuel jump high in the air right before Jake could reach him and land swiftly on his back. Jake turned his head around fiercely snapping at Nahuel's leg. One of his bites grazed his leg and the blood began to run down Nahuel's pants.

In a way this was good. The smell of blood would bring my family here quickly. Nahuel learned quickly though and when Jake went to bite at him again, he kicked him firmly in the nose. Jacob yipped in pain and in that second I watched Nahuel take out a long dagger out of his belt. He raised it above his head with two hands and prepared to slam it down right into Jake's neck.

"No!" I screamed finding my feet and leaping towards Nahuel. My adrenaline had given me an amazing jump and I hit Nahuel right as the dagger came into contact with Jake's neck. It was just a shallow scratch and I knew it would heal in seconds. Before I could feel relief though, Nahuel and I slammed down onto the ground in a tangled heap. As I hit the ground I felt a different kind of pain in my chest. It erased the pain of the fall and clouded out everything else.

I looked up at Nahuel and he stared back at me with terrified eyes as he grabbed the back of my head to support it.

"Renes--" He started to scream my name but he was ripped of by Jake's enormous hand. He had apparently phased back and was now leaning over me on the ground. But I could barely notice. My vision was failing me. I looked weakly at my chest and saw Nahuel's dagger protruding from it.

It was placed in the only weak spot of my body. The one thing that was vital to protect, that not even my vampire half could heal. The dagger was plunged into my heart which was beating unevenly and steadily slower.

"Renesmee look at me!" I heard Jake's thick voice shout.

I turned my weak gaze to his face and his eyes locked with mine.

"You don't leave me, Nessie. Stay with me! Carlisle is almost here, I can hear him! Please Nessie hang in there!"

My breath was failing rapidly and it became uncomfortable for me to keep my lungs moving in and out. It felt like my whole body had been weighted to the ground. I could no longer feel my limbs, but I forced my lips to move.

"Love you." I said the words bubbling with the blood that gurgled in my throat.

"What happened?" I heard several voices shout at once. I felt Carlisle's cold hands on my chest and I tried to ignore his golden hair hovering over me, ripping my shirts to shreds trying to stop the bleeding, to know what to do, but with one glance at his stunning face, I knew there was nothing he could do. I knew he was too late. My eyelids grew heavy and I looked at Jake; I wanted him to be the last thing I saw. As my eyes closed, I watched his perfect lips form my name and I knew he was yelling, but I couldn't hear him. I closed my eyes, with visions of Jake dancing behind my eyelids and died in endless bliss.


	16. My Girl

16. My Girl

Jacob's POV

"NO, NO, NO!! NESSIE! NESSIE!" I screamed through sobs. My hands were still tangled in her hair and I bent over her face.

"Open your eyes! Look at me, look at me!" I screamed to her lifeless body.

"Renesmee." Bella sobbed tearlessly beside me holding her daughters limp hand.

"Carlisle do something!" I shouted at him. The entire Cullen family had come and they were all gathered around Renesmee's body.

There was a pain building inside of me that I could not explain. Something was being ripped from me. I screamed out to the sky in pain and clutched at my chest. Edward stared at me in horror as he realized what was happening. My imprint was leaving me. Forever. It was the worst pain I had ever felt. It was worse than when she told me she didn't want me; a thousand times worse. I would have lived knowing she was alive but seeing her here dead, it would kill me.

Edward was also holding one of Nessie's hands and he was talking to Carlisle in a hushed tone. "Her brain is getting weaker. Her mental pictures are weakening. If she dies, So does he." He said matter-of-factly.

Hearing Edward say this, I tried to be tougher. I tried to fight for Nessie. If I held strong maybe she would too. I grabbed either side of her face and spoke to her softly. "Nessie hold on. I know you can fight."

Then I looked at Carlisle who was looking at the dagger helplessly. "I could try and pull it out and see if she could heal her own heart, but it may be too late or it could damage her heart muscles."

"JUST DO IT!" I screamed at him, angry that he didn't already have it done. The pain in my chest was escalating and it felt like in seconds my heart would burst.

He hesitated less than a second before gripping the dagger and pulling it out of Renesmee's chest.

We all stared at her and for one second and no one made a sound. No apparent change had been made except for an extra gush of blood that came out with the dagger.

"Bite her." Bella said looking desperately at Edward.

He looked at Carlisle's face which was only blank and he grabbed Renesmee's wrist. His teeth brushed the surface of her skin when he stopped cold and stared at Nessie's face.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked gasping in pain.

"Touch her skin."

I did as Edward said and touched her skin and I felt the same pain that was destroying me. Feeling it inside her doubled the pain for me and I thought I would surely pass out from the intensity of it. I looked at Edward with a confused and pain filled look.

"She can feel pain. Her heart is healing."

I looked down at Renesmee with a new emotion building in my heart. It was hope. Looking down at this beautiful, perfect girl; I knew she was going to make it. The color was starting to return to her cheeks and we all heard the thud of shallow heart beat, but it was start.

_That's my girl._

**AN:  
**

Hello! I haven't written an authors note in a long time. Haha. Anyways, sorry to leave everybody at a cliff hanger last chapter! I've just always really wanted to do that. Heh. Sorry. Hope you liked this chapter too. Review!!


End file.
